The ambient qualities of urban ecologies―as we as civilizations create them in specific geographic locations―are coming to the forefront of cultural production. With the advent of digital media and environmental consciousness more than any other point in human history we are able to access the formal qualities of the ambient environment in terms of the built, social and natural environments. Through sensors, databases and visualization we can collect information on the ambient dynamics of cities, sound, light, air quality, acoustics, human movement, ecological dimensions, social preferences and their multiplicity of interactions. And while social media and global commerce has transcended the confines of place, its impact on culture has made place-centric experiences and spatial awareness more important not less.

RAP PAR―a team from Istanbul P. Dervis, A. Sanal, R. Anadol, Turkey―proposes a sound and light installation, namely Augmenting Spatiality for Abercrombie Lane. The installation’s premise is to reveal specific ambient qualities of Sydney and Istanbul as distinct urban ecologies, but also like a cultural exchange, put their sampled qualities into a dialogue that responds to one another. The dialogue will be framed on a spatial narrative referring to ‘equal’ volumes of spaces to create sequence, compression, gateway, perception and extension in the formal geometry of the space. Abercrombie Lane was specifically selected as it is the only site that is common to many of the urban spaces in Istanbul, but also as it does not receive direct sun to the ground which creates a very suitable environment for light installation. RAP PAR is taking Beyoğlu-Karaköy axis as its main spatial center to collect sound, and specifically İstiklal Street as the ‘main spine’ (with particular resemblances with the George Street, including current urban transformation urgencies) to form the background sound vocabulary of ‘equal’ volumes that are connected to this main axis.